I'm starting a devlog here for The Brontosaurus Milk Crisis, a game I'm cooking up with a little personal challenge behind it.

Given the recent news that a few browsers are dropping UnityWebPlayer support I'm gonna take my first stab at using the WebGL protocol and see what I can squeeze out of it. Also I gotta keep in mind file-size limits for various hosting sites, I'm basing my limit on NewGrounds's 80mb limit so that's gonna be the ceiling for this build...if any other sites have higher limits...great!, if not then maybe I'll ask permission for a fat little game file.

I've also found that audio quality goes right down the toilet after a WebGL build so on top of Audio files inflating that file size like no other element it seems there are bound to be compromises and workarounds in the sound department.

The UnityWebPlayer ran like a top last I used it, never uploaded WebGL but I've seen WebGL run like shit with what appeared to be less than I'm putting forward...optimization techniques to apply, learn and then apply what I learned in the process.Seriously I want this to run as smooth and as fast as my experiences with UnityWebPlayer.

Finally I want a satisfying longer than average (I'm thinking about two-ish Mario64 levels worth of content), lush environments, ascetically pleasing visuals, various yet-to-be-specified mechanics...basically a good lil' game.

So basically my self challenge is...

1: Under 80mb file-size

2: Runs and sounds nice.

3: An enjoyable, well rounded game.

So off to work I go it seems...

As for the game itself and what it's all about well...between the title, the link to my video-log below and the GIFs below that y'all are going to guess at or infer the details until I start posting them.

Vlog #1

Almost posted before mentioning this is going to be a free game. Aside from the WebGL I'm releasing a companion downloadable version on Itch.io which will also be free. Maybe after this is done I'll take a stab at the paid market with a much more polished, expanded, not limited by file-size version...but as for this one, not a dime to play.

I got some modeling/texturing done on my first enemy, code-named 'RollZilla'.

Sticking to my 'keep the file-size tiny' credo this guy's texture image is actually only 12x4 pixels! I could have gotten away with 3x1 but not only is the difference negligable but any image with greater than 4x4 pixels is auto compressed upon build in unity anyway so...yeah.

Also I'm cracking up at the way this eye-method makes it look like it's eyes are watching you as the perspective moves.

Glad to hear you dig the name and I'll try to make this worthwhile to follow for yah.

The name is essentially the premise of the story.

One day while attending to the duties of milking the local brontosauruses (brontosauri?) to feed his tribe, our protagonist finds a never before seen enormous brontosaurus and dares to milk it. Unfortunately an absurd of amount of milk is released and floods the planet. Now our prehistoric hero must try to resolve and account for his poor decision in a changed, tumultuous, diluvian world.

It's silly as heck but I've been rolling with it for around a couple months and have grown fond of the story.

As I work on the 80mb version I keep thinking about a version without limits, and I'm considering abandoning the whole challenge altogether and just making this thing as I see fit without worrying about it.

Don't get me wrong there is value in learning to work within confines but this project is growing on me and I'm starting to see that 'cutting' aspects isn't really doing justice to what I have in mind.

2 second music loops to save space when webGL builds can't loop for shit...

Limiting colors and avoiding gradients out of necessity in what is turning into a pretty psychedelic game...

Got some texturing, modeling, animating and such done on some concept land masses and volcanic geysers.

Also started toying around with wall jumping and climbing.

Funny thing I found with the way it's currently coded is that you can run around in the tree-patch holding jump and parkour like it's nothing...

...It's pretty fun to see how long you can glide and ricochet around without touching the ground.

Also I'm done with the whole challenge thing and this most likely wont be a browser game nor will it most likely be free...(boo...I know haha)...but at least I can fit what I have in mind into this without worrying about it so down with distractions and up with more game.

@amanfr01 That's cool to know some are looking forward to this! I'll do my best to assure it's worth playing.

Funny you mention Space Station: Silicon Valley and Iggy's Wrecking Balls, SSSV is actually one of my faves from long ago. It has that 'hard to put your finger on' charm on top of some great gameplay...maybe one day I'll beat it. Last I remember I got to some difficult gorilla stage later in the game and didn't make it past that before I had to return it to Blockbuster video.Same with Iggy's wrecking balls...didn't think much of the cover art but one day curiosity got the best of me and it turned out to be a very fun rental.

That would be cool no doubt but I'm kinda 50/50 on Kickstarter as it is. Honestly the most use I could see getting out of KS would be another avenue to 'get the word out', money up front would be nice but putting energy towards fulfilling promises instead of towards the game itself gives me pause when I think about it.

Maaaaaaaaaybe I'll do a KS but only if the game is basically 99% complete, the goal amount would be small and I would not promise anything I wasn't 100% sure I could deliver...sadly a functioning N64 cartridge is way beyond my skills to create.

Haha we are free to be as goofy as we want are we not? Personally I prefer something interesting to look at vs realism or cohesion.

Take a look at some of Hieronymus Bosch's paintings, I believe his claim to fame and why he is still remembered is more based on all the absurd details and "out there" scenarios he paints rather than his skills with a brush (which is also considerable).

Now could you imagine being able to hop around one of his paintings in a game and see/interact with everything within them?

I'm not saying I'm going to have that level of detail but maybe it gives a notion of what I'm leaning towards visually.

Thanks for the kind words amanfr01 and I'll try to make this worth checking in on!